The Tornado II - Long Way Home

[Sipp]

((Title is random, it doesn't necessarily have to be long, but it would be nice to get some mileage out of it if you don't mind... I swear that pun was unintentional))



Considering this boy was wheeling her to his plane and would be flying her home... Shortcake figured the least she could do was attempt smalltalk.

"S-so, u-um... y-you're a-a fr-friend o-of M-Mister G-guardian? Y-you l-look p-pretty y-young t-to b-be a-a p-pilot, muu... I-I'm a p-pilot m-myself.. k-kind o-of.. i-in tr-training, muu..."

[Topaz Mutiny]

Tails looked at the girl as he began to place her gently in the backseat. "Pretty much. We got off on the wrong foot at first, but he seems really cool now... when he's not fighting Sonic anyway." Tails replied. Mister Guardian... I GOTTA remember that one He snickered inwardly. And the fox kit couldn't help but smile at the pilot comment, "Yeah, I'm also a really great mechanic too! I built the Tornado Two all by myself!" the fox proclaimed, patting the side of the bi-plane as he hopped in the pilot's seat.

"You're in-training huh? That's pretty cool. What else can you do?" Tails asked, pushing a button that turned the engine on. It thrummed gently, slowly warming up.

[Sipp]

"Y-yeah, h-he d-does h-have a-a b-bit o-of a-a s-scary t-temper, d-doesn't h-he, muu...? M-mister H-hedgehog i-is s-scary, muu.." She stared at him, impressed, eyes wide. "W-wow! Th-that's a-amazing! Y-you m-must b-be a-a c-child pr-prodigy, muu... h-how o-old a-are y-you, i-if y-you d-don't m-mind m-me a-asking...?"

She fidgeted a little at the questions. "Y-yeah.. t-the l-last t-time I-I f-flew I-I e-ended u-up cr-crashing o-on A-angel I-island... I-I c-couldn't s-see o-over th-the d-dashboard... M-mister G-guardian w-was v-very k-kind t-to m-me, t-though, muu... h-he t-took c-care o-of m-me." She nodded, "W-well... n-nothing m-much, r-really... I-I c-can c-cook, d-drive, cl-clean... th-that's a-about i-it, muu..."

[Topaz Mutiny]

Despite being a modest kind of fox, Tails couldn't help but puff up his chest in pride, "Well... I guess I am a prodigy. And I'm twelve years old, since you asked." he said. By now the plane was finished warming up, and the blades on the nose of the bi-plane began to spin with a buzzing noise. Tails kept quiet as Shortcake told her story of how she had met Knuckles, then went to ask another question,

"So, how old are you then? Well... if you don't mind me asking that is."

[Sipp]

"W-wow.. hmm.. y-you l-look y-younger... b-but s-still, th-that's r-really a-amazing! M-maybe y-you c-could g-give m-me f-flying l-lessons... I-I'm s-sixteen, muu... s-so d-do y-you p-pilot a-and b-build th-things f-for f-fun...? Y-your p-parents m-must b-be r-really pr-proud o-of y-you, muu~"m

[Topaz Mutiny]

Tails blinked. She was sixteen? But then again, he'd seen stranger things. He turned on the throttle, and the plane began to lift into the sky. Tails listened to Shortcakes next question. "Heh, yeah, it's for fun and for beating up Dr. Eggman. Some of the things I've made have been pretty useful." he said, reminicing on good old times. What Shortcake had said next though...

Tails suddenly went quiet, the smile gone from his face, as if it had been wiped away by the wind that now gently buffeted their faces.

[Sipp]

"I-I'm g-glad y-you p-put y-your t-talents t-to g-good u-use th-then, muu!"

And then came That Topic.

She knew right away that she had said something wrong. It wasn't hard to tell. She winced, and then, in a tiny voice: "I-I'm s-sorry."m

[Topaz Mutiny]

Tails bit his lip as he thought upon the subject more. "It's okay, really. Not many people know that I can't remember my parents, even though they might think it strange that I'm only seen with Sonic and his uncle." he eventually said. Then he allowed himself a small smile, "Plus, if I hadn't met Sonic... I probably wouldn't have been inspired to use my intellect like this."

[Sipp]

What was such a nice young talented child doing hanging around with THE FACE? She glanced at the fox. He didn't seem to be frightening or traumatizing like THE FACE was... perhaps he was immune to it? ... was that even possible?

"I-I n-never k-knew m-my p-parents e-either, muu, but I-I'm sure th-th-- er.. M-mister S-sonic a-and h-his u-uncle a-are v-very p-proud of y-you!" she smiled softly at him, "A-and th-they t-took g-great c-care o-of y-you w-when y-you w-were y-younger, r-right, muu?" The smile faded a bit, her expression beginning to fill up with motherly concern.m

[Topaz Mutiny]

"Yeah... they did." Tails mused. By now the island was in sight, floating sort-of-majestically on the sea. The fox raised his eyebrows- the crashed-island scenario was starting to get rediculously common nowadays.

Slowly, the plane began to decend towards the island, and Tails began to think. I haven't really been with Sonic all that much lately. Maybe I could tag along with him on his next adventure, just like when we were young..er. The fox smiled. It felt rather good to think about the next high-flying adventure.

[Sipp]

"S-sorry if I-I o-offended you, muu..." The sight of the island made her both relieved and terrified (though, more terrified than relieved ...) "Th-thank y-you.." she paused, for a moment, and then added, somewhat awkwardly, "M-mister T-tails..."

[Topaz Mutiny]

Tails blushed at the 'Mr. Tails' comment, simply for the fact that a girl four years his senior was calling him such, and then yawned, as the kit STILL hadn't gotten any sleep for the past couple of days.

But, at long last the lush trees and trickling streams of the majestic Angel Island were soon below them, and Tails guided in the bi-plane towards a green flat specked with rocks he knew was Marble Gardens. The terrain grew more detailed and vivid, until the plane finally landed on a pillar that had been knocked down centuries ago, acting as a crude runway.

As the plane rolled to a bumpy stop, Tails looked back at his passenger and smiled, "We're here!" he proclaimed.

[Sipp]

Shortcake looked around the new scenery nervously.

"H-Have y-you h-had a-any... b-bad e-experiences... muu... w-with th-this I-island? I-I k-know I-I h-have, muu..."

[Topaz Mutiny]

Tails smirked. "Well, we did have that fiasco with the Death Egg a long while back. And no doubt you've heard about Chaos and what he did to Station Square. He came from this island... at least that's what Knuckles said." he explained.

"Though, I wouldn't really call them BAD expierences. They were kind of fun, and were pretty awesome adventures."

[Sipp]

"I-I h-heard a-a b-bit a-about i-it, muu... r-really, f-fun...? I-I'd t-think i-it w-would b-be d-dangerous, muu... hm.. w-well.. I-I m-mean, w-with th-the i-island i-itself..." she glanced around warily.

[Topaz Mutiny]

"The island itself?" Tails asked, thinking if such a thing had happened. "... Maybe... I kind of remember that Sonic and myself were caught in a HUGE fire here... but Eggman caused thaaaa...." the fox trailed off as his sentence ended in a huge yawn. He grinned sheepishly as he helped lift Shortcake and her wheelchair out of the plane and onto the soft grass.

"Sorry. I think since you're here and safe, I'd better head home. I can't remember the last time I went to sleee..." Tails explained, ending on a longer, more tired-sounding yawn. Now that he admitted his staying up for Chaos-knows how long, Tails had found himself quickly sapped of his energy.

[Sipp]

"A-a f-fire...? Wow..."

She paused. "B-but I-I.. a-alone, muu?" She flattened her ears back, looking about her nervously, "I-it's sc-scary h-here, muu.."

[Topaz Mutiny]

"It's alright really. And you won't be alone either. I saw the chao garden just up that hill. It's one of the safest places on the island, and the least lonely. You can play with the chao there if you want." Tails reassured the uncomfortable yellow hedgehog. He yawned again; the biggest one yet.

"But... I really need to get going. If I stay any longer and leave later, I might end up falling asleep at the yolk." Tails explained, smirking bashfully with a slight blush on his cheeks. Thinking of his past record with flying aircraft... it was likely that he would fall asleep at the controls of his plane.

And without further discussion on the subject, Tails picked up Shortcake by the handles of her wheelchair, and flew her right to the edge of the chao garden. Then he flew back to the Tornado Two, fired up the engines, and took off, waving a glad goodbye to Shortcake as he flew overhead.

And now, off to his workshop, where he could finally get some rest!

[Sipp]

She still looked nervous. "A-all r-right, muu... t-take c-care... i-it w-was n-nice m-meeting y-you, muu..."